Spring Hack: Turn Cleaning Into Extra Cash

Estimated reading time: 14 minutes

Spring cleaning can be a lucrative endeavor. Find out how to declutter your home and make some extra cash.

Spring Into Savings And Sell Your Dust For Cash

The best part about spring is when you can sell your dust bunnies to buyers for cash.

Please don’t wait for your pot of gold because the only way to fill it with cash is to get out there and make it yourself.

Let the green of St. Patrick’s Day today inspire you to start spring cleaning your home for some green of your own.

Many people chase the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, not realizing they have a pot right under their noses at home.

It’s time to clean up the cash you have lying around the house and put it back where it belongs: in the bank.

A deep cleaning includes more than just wiping walls; it includes cleaning cupboards, windows, and the outside of your home.

One of the most dreaded chores but most rewarding is a cleaning that uncovers ‘stuff’ you haven’t used in months or even years but has worth,

Money Just Collecting Dust

Put what you’ve acquired while cleaning your home for sale online and recoup some of the money you paid for the item.

It’s incredible how many people are broke, yet they have loads of stuff around their house, inside and out, that they could sell.

After you’re done using something, why not turn it around and sell it to another person who loves second-hand deals?

Related: Spring Cleaning Tips In The Canadian Sunshine

One of the best times of year to deep clean your house is for a big garage sale.

Once the nice weather is upon us, the motivation to de-clutter is higher than during winter.

Begin Cleaning In Three Cash Zones

Three main places to de-clutter for cash are your closet, garage, and basement.

Some might argue that the attic is another safe spot where house explorers can cash in. 

Why? This is where most homeowners store their ‘junk’ or stuff they no longer need or think they might use down the road.

A house cleaning checklist may be something that you follow weekly or even monthly.

However, when the snow melts and spring appears, it’s time to hang up the shovel and get out the broom.

Spring Cleaning And Hidden Finds

Since my father-in-law passed away, my mother-in-law has been struggling because money is tied up in investments, frozen by the bank, and her bills are piling up.

My father-in-law would ‘collect stuff‘ just in case he needed it and wouldn’t think twice to pick something up from the curb if he saw value in it.

The only problem was that he kept what he found for extra income instead of selling it.

He had no interest in earning extra money even though they both would have benefited from a more significant savings account.

I mean, who wouldn’t right? 

Not only are we de-cluttering our home for cash, but we’ll be doing the same for my mother-in-law on weekends at her house.

She has so much cash lying around that we’ll pick it up and hand it to her so she can put it to good use.

It’s the least we can do for her because she needs our help.

Start By Spring Cleaning Room to Room

Spring clean-up started last month in our house, and we started going through everything we owned room by room.

We divided the items we no longer wanted or needed into two piles.

1. Donate
2. Sell

I’ve written about selling your stuff for cash on the blog but recently realized how important it is to have a game plan; otherwise, it will never get done.

The worst thing is the half-jobs that keep collecting because of chore hopping and missed opportunities.

So far in the past month, Mrs. CBB and I have earned over $300 selling stuff that we paid for but no longer use. 

In a way, it’s not extra money because you spent it to buy it in the first place.

We consider it found money or money we had but weren’t using.

Cleaning What You Sell Nets A Higher Profit

Tip: Always clean what you sell so the items look pristine and top dollar.

• Baby clothes
• 3 in 1 Tricycle
• Office Clothes
• Work Shoes
• Bedroom bench
• Outdoor bench
• Home Decor
• Kitchen utensils
• Kids toys
• Fax machine
• Printer
• Wall art

Organize and Plan For Spring Cleaning

Don’t be that person who goes through the Spring clean-up process, leaving what you want to sell in various places around the house.

You won’t sell it; if you do, it will take forever because you’re not organized.

We aren’t the type of people who throw things in the garage that we want to sell. 

Last Spring, we picked up a gorgeous free cabinet/shelf that I was refinishing for our basement.

I’m not done yet as I have one last layer of white paint to put on before deciding where it will be placed.

Related: Garage Sale Tools You Need for a Successful Sale

If you look, our shelf is filled top to bottom with stuff we are selling, which starts at the end of winter and into spring/summer when garage sale season begins.

Putting stuff on the shelf has been the single easiest way for us to know what we are selling.

There have been times when Mrs. CBB is not home, and someone knocks on the door for an item.

I don’t have to scramble to find it because I know where we keep everything we sell.

Another tip is to have spare plastic bags or boxes around to put items inside, especially if the buyer is doing a porch pick-up.

We like to tie the bag shut and label the item with the buyer’s name.

No, we aren’t afraid of them stealing the item as we only put out items $20 or less.

If it is stolen, we consider it a donation to someone who needs it.

Price Items As You Are Cleaning

Another thing that we’ve done this year during our Spring clean-up is pricing what we want to sell as we go along.

We have a list attached to the side of our white shelf in the garage where we write in what the item is and the price we are selling it for.

This also becomes handy if you plan to host a garage sale in the summer.

All you need to do is pick up labels or coloured dots to coincide with your pricing schedule.

We wait to price anything on the product if we are hosting a garage sale and doing our Spring clean-up into the end of the winter months.

Related: Garage Sale Pricing Guide

The reason for this is that we like to do price comparisons on products to ensure we get as much as we can back for the product we are selling.

Every bit helps when you can use the money, especially when money is tight, or you need to increase savings and investment accounts.

You paid for it, so sell it if you don’t need it any longer.

Use Accurate Comparable Pricing

Please stop using Amazon to compare prices when selling items online or for your garage sale.

The prices of many products have increased due to inflation and are unaffordable for many people.

I just move on if I see someone trying to do this with something I’m interested in purchasing.

Try using local shops in the area where the product is commonly sold.

Stage Your Spring Cleaning Finds For Sale

Please don’t ask me why, but any time you can stage what you sell in an upscale setting, it will catch a buyer’s attention.

One of the worst things you can do is list something for sale or host a garage sale while smoking.

I found an ad on Kijiji for a boy’s jacket, and next to it was an ashtray with a lit cigarette next to it.

You won’t always know what you buy, whether from a smoke-free or pet-free home, because everyone knows to say that, so they sell their stuff faster.

Smell and pet hair are usually evident, so don’t be shy to sniff.

Ideally, you would want to find a few nice tables to showcase what you are selling if you plan to host a garage sale after your Spring clean-up.

When you’re organized and your stuff priced and labelled you can sell it efficiently because you aren’t getting frustrated trying to help all of your customers.

It also makes it easier to negotiate.

Related: Why you should stage your garage sale

Staging Stuff For Cash

When selling stuff from home online, staging in a nice, clean, and clutter-free area helps, along with a clear photo.

Describe the product from head to toe, including its shape.

Have you ever seen photos online where someone stages chalk-painted tables with mason jars and Dollar Store white flowers?

Behind the cabinet is a gorgeous mirror, and other home decor items enhance the beauty of selling home decor.

My sister-in-law is this person; she makes a very nice profit from the stuff she buys and finishes.

Oh, those painted mason jars net her $60 for a set of 3.

There is something powerful about selling stuff with a high-end background to those people who view it as upscale.

The idea around this is no different than homeowners or realtors staging a home for sale.

A fresh, clean, de-cluttered home will sell faster than one musty, dirty, and overloaded with stuff.

Spring Cleaning With A Less Is More Mindset

Although we love to buy second-hand items and go to garage sales, we’ve realized over the past 10 years of owning our home that we don’t need all this stuff.

Once we de-clutter, we find added space in our living environment, which feels fantastic.

The more stuff you have, whether rare, vintage, or new, doesn’t make your space inviting if there’s too much of it.

Discussion: What tips do you have for Spring clean-up around the house to get the most out of the stuff that collects dust around the house?

Leave me your comments below, and I’ll respond to them.

Mr.CBB

At The CBB House

This past week started not so bad but ended with Mrs. CBB at the doctor’s office and then at the hospital for tests to see what might be causing her severe stomach pain.

Earlier this week, we took a ride to Burlington, Ontario, to bring our little guy to a local play centre which he loved, but it was the priciest of any we’ve been to.

We like to tour around the GTA to find new spots to play, so he’s not always going to the same place.

Next year, I believe a trip to Disney is in order, as he will be old enough to understand what is happening.

Besides that, this weekend, we will head to my in-law’s house for more spring cleaning and de-cluttering to get ready for sale.

All my mother-in-law wants is an average home, she says, so she will get it.

The house looks staged and ready for sale now.

It’s amazing how two people can be so different regarding what they should keep or get rid of in the house.

We picked up an Amazon stick for our TV with Alexa and then managed to lower our Rogers bill to $143 for all services, including the wife’s cell phone.

I’ll explain why we did that and stuck around in an upcoming blog post.

Have a great week, everyone!

Mr.CBB

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Contact me for more info at canadianbudgetbinder@yahoo.ca

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Joel from MilitaryMillions.com wrote a blog post at The Humble Dollar about his $121,500 Guest Room, which is well thought out regarding financial numbers.

Most people, including Joel and us, didn’t think about the impact of that extra room or other rooms, I should say.

Often we think that we need more than we do to get by in life.

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I love how he represents how many days the expenses of the extra room would have allowed him to rent a hotel room.

Parenting and Home Life

Check out these cool Leprechaun Hats made from craft sticks that Kim created over at The Resourceful Mama.

This is a super easy St. Patrick’s Day craft for toddlers. Love it!

Supplies you will need:

• Craft sticks
• Glue
• Black paper
• Yellow paper
• Green paint
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Frugal Recipe Of The Week

Fellow Canadian Elizabeth over at Frugal Mom Eh has this awesome recipe perfect for St. Patrick’s Day today: Beef and Guinness Hand Pies.

I’m a huge pastry and meat guy, and I know that I would devour a few of them!

Relationship 101

This was inspirational because of the validity it brought to my life.

If you’re unhappy with yourself, you won’t be happy in a relationship, no matter what you think.

Happiness is something that you create, and the perfect job or money won’t make up for a smile. 

Keep it real!

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Often, I find people hope that today will be their lucky day, but in reality, the only luck you need is the effort you put into something.

Saturday Search Term Giggles

Every week, I get tens of thousands of people visiting Canadian Budget Binder because they did an online search and found my blog.

(SIC) means I’ve copied the text exactly and it has spelling errors.

• What’s the safest savings account? – Hah, your piggy bank.
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Most times funny, Sometimes serious.

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